D.A. adds murder charge for driver in florist’s death

The out-of-control driver’s car that struck Mohammed Akkas Ali and two other deli employees last June 19 sat in a wreck near the store hours after the crash. file photo

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. on Tuesday announced that an intoxicated driver who crashed into a Second Ave. grocery store last June, injuring several employees, one of whom later died, has now also been charged with murder.

Florist Mohammed Akkas Ali, who was in his early 60s, died earlier this year as a result of his injuries from the crash six months earlier.

The driver, Shaun Martin, 33, now has been additionally charged in New York State Supreme Court, not only with murder in the second degree, but also two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.

Martin was initially slapped with seven charges, but that has now been boosted up to 15. He faces 25 years to life in jail.

Other charges against him include assault in the first degree, aggravated vehicular assault, reckless endangerment in the first degree, driving while ability impaired by drugs, driving while ability impaired by combination of drugs and alcohol, assault in the third degree, and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.

“This defendant is charged with seriously injuring multiple pedestrians, killing Mr. Ali, due to his extraordinarily reckless behavior,” Vance said in a press release on Tuesday.

“Intoxicated driving, whether by drugs or alcohol, is completely at odds with the prospect of making New York streets safe for pedestrians and drivers alike. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute vehicular violence whenever supported by the evidence.”

Martin is charged with speeding through the East Village in a white Nissan Altima at around 6:50 a.m. on June 19, 2013, while impaired by phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP, and methamphetamine.

He reportedly cut across three lanes of traffic and drove onto the sidewalk. He struck multiple objects, including a fire hydrant, a pay phone, a muni-meter and a tree, before crashing into the flower stand at East Village Farm and Grocery, at E. Fourth St. and Second Ave. Three deli employees were struck, including Ali.

The florist was in a coma for a couple of weeks, before regaining consciousness. But he never spoke or moved again, and eventually died due to his injuries.

In a prior case, in 2007, Martin was convicted of operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs.

After the June 2013 crash, he was initially released on $100 bail. Then he was arrested for another incident, possibly drug-related, and his bail was set at $1 million. But he was eventually held without bail, and remains in jail.

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